TEACHING CHINESE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN CHINESE UNIVERSITIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31891/2308-4081/2023-13(2)-10Keywords:
the Chinese language, learning Chinese, teaching Chinese, educational programs, universities, hieroglyphs, China, methods and techniques, learning strategiesAbstract
The article highlights some aspects of learning and teaching Chinese as a foreign language at Chinese universities. Special attention is paid to the internal and external factors that have led to the interest in and need to learn Chinese. It is found that at the present stage of Chinese society development, the country seeks to popularize the Chinese language and culture in the world, thus solving the problem of cross-cultural communication and strengthening international influence on the development of the global world. It is established that in the process of China's active involvement in the global economy and international cooperation, the Chinese language has become important in the world and its status as the second language after English is predicted. It is defined that programs for studying Chinese language as a foreign language involve different models of educational trajectory: preparatory programs; long-term training programs; short-term (intensive / practical) programs; regular programs and practice-oriented ones. The article summarizes the views of Chinese scholars on the linguodidactic and methodological principles of teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Scholars particularly focus on the following issues: increasing motivation to learn Chinese through communicative tasks; developing and using effective teaching strategies; studying intercultural relations in teaching practices; using online game technologies in teaching Chinese, etc. It is found that spelling strategies, semantic strategies, memory strategies, phonological strategies and metacognitive strategies are used in teaching Chinese as a second foreign language. Effective methods and techniques of teaching Chinese as a foreign language (implicit learning, approximation, diversification of exercises, association method, translation method, communicative tasks, repeated memorization, game methods, visual mnemonics, etc.) are described. It is concluded that the growing interest in the Chinese language as a foreign language has led to the need to update the content of educational programs and improve the methodology of teaching Chinese.
References
Beijing Language and Culture University (2020). Chinese Language Programs 2020 for International Applicants. Retrieved from https://www.chinesescholar/ shipcouncil.com/
Gong, Y., Lyu, B., & Gao, X. (2018). Research on teaching Chinese as a second or foreign language in and out-side mainland China: A bibliometric analysis. Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 27 (4), 277–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s4029 9-018-0385-2
Gordon, R. R., Barros, S. R., & Li, J. (2020). Make a name for yourself: Exploring the interculturality of naming and addressing practices among transnational teachers of Chinese as a foreign language. Language and Intercultural Communication, 20(6), 586–599. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708 477.2020.1817058
Grenfell, M. & Harris, V. (2015). Memorisation strategies and the adolescent learner of Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language. Linguistics and Education, 31, 1– 13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2015.04.002
Han, J. I. & Tsukada, K. (2020). Lexical representation of Mandarin tones by non-tonal second-language learners. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 148(1), 46–50. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0001586
Han, Z. H. (2018). Task-based learning in task-based teaching: Training teachers of Chinese as a foreign language. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 38, 162–186. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267 19051 800003X
Hao, Y., Hong, J. C., Jong, J. T., Hwang, M. Y., Su, C. Y., & Yang, J. S. (2010). Non-native Chinese language learners' attitudes towards online vision-based motion games. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(6), 1043–1053. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467- 8535.2009.01050.x
Huang, S. (2018). A qualitative case study of CSL learners’ reading strategies. Chinese as a Second Language, USA, 53(2), 131–162. https://doi.org/10.1075/csl.17024.hua
Jia, H. & Feng-his, L. (2016). Acquisition of time and locative phrases in Mandarin Chinese: A case of input saliency. Chinese as a Second Language, 51(1), 1–28.
Leminen, F. & Bai, Sh. (2023) Applying Visual Mnemonics Enhances Chinese Characters Learning for Chinese as Second Language Learners: A Mixed-Method Study. ICDTE '23: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Digital Technology in Education, 150–154 https://doi.org/10.1145/3626686.3631646
Sung, K.-Y. (2010) Promoting Communicative Language Learning through Communicative Tasks. Journal of Language Teaching and Research. 1 (5), 704–713.
Wang, D. (2018) Chinese as a second language education in Asian schools. In: Kennedy KJ, Li Z, editors. Routledge international handbook of schools and schooling in Asia. Routledge.
Yalun, A. (2019) International Promotion of Chinese Language in the New Era. Int Educ Stud. 12(7), 1–13.
Yang, D. (2010) Chinese Learners’ Communication Strategies. Cross-cultural communication. 6 (1), 56–81.
Zhang, Q., Lin, X., & Osborne, C. (2022). A think-aloud method of investigating translanguaging strategies in learning Chinese characters. Applied Linguistics Review. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2022-0135
